Flames in Gariahat blaze debris

The fire at Gurudas Mansion in Gariahat on January 20 A Telegraph picture

A fire broke out in the charred portion of Gurudas Mansion in Gariahat on Sunday, less than a month after two sari shops in the landmark five-storey building were gutted.

Labourers were clearing the debris left behind by the devastating fire when flames were spotted on the first floor, which once housed Traders Assembly.

One fire tender was engaged to douse the flames, police said. No one was injured.

A preliminary investigation by the fire brigade revealed that embers from a bidi lit by one of the labourers could have sparked the fire.

“Partially burnt silk saris are still lying in the debris and had they caught fire, the flames would have spread,” a fire brigade officer said.

The possibility of an electrical short circuit was ruled out as power supply to the building is yet to be restored.

Sari shops Traders Assembly and Adi Dhakeswari Bastralaya and their warehouses were destroyed by the fire that broke out in the early hours of January 20. The flames raged for over 10 hours, damaging a third of the 25-odd shops in the building and forcing families to evacuate.

The report of forensic investigations had blamed an electrical short circuit in a stall in front of the building for the fire. The plastic sheets that covered the hawkers’ stalls had helped fan the flames.

More fires

A fire broke out in a tea stall on Palm Avenue around 9pm on Sunday and another in an oil factory in Barasat on Sunday morning. The Palm Avenue fire was doused by residents before a fire tender arrived, police said. The cause of the fire is yet to be known, an officer of Karaya police station said.

Eleven fire tenders were sent to douse the flames in an edible oil factory at Kadambagachhi, Barasat. The battle raged for five hours.